Press Release

Accelerating Gender Parity This International Women's Day

New Delhi, 8th March 2022: On International Women's Day, ASSOCHAM, the apex trade trade body, hosted a series of workshops and webinars to honour the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of Indian Women. The objective of the program was to create awareness about gender equality and expedite equal representation. Under the ASSOCHAM Annual session, the virtual events focused on topics such as 'Women in Sports', 'Women in Workplace' and 'Women's Health'. 

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Siddhartha Singh Longjam, Joint Secretary, Department of Sports, Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, Government of India conveyed that with initiatives like the ''Khelo India'' program, there is a huge momentum for promoting sports among women. “There has been a constant dialogue and deliberation in the Department of Sports to strengthen the sports ecosystem and increase engagement of women in sports activities and tournaments,” he said. 

Ms. Manisha Malhotra, Head of Sports Excellence & Scouting, JSW and Former Tennis player and Asian Games Silver Medalist stated that women athletes have a long way to go in India as a lot of initiatives are still in the infancy stage "There should be appropriate policies and scholarships for women in sports for increasing their participation and involvement'', she added. She also mentioned that there is a need to promote more women in the decision-making process for encouraging more girls in the sports domain. 

In order to achieve equality, Ms. Inoshi Sharma, Executive Director, FSSAI, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, GoI, advised, "Vocalize your ideas at every stage of life whenever appropriate." Nutrition is significant for a healthy lifestyle, and she also shed light on the right eating habits that transcend gender and geographic boundaries. She was concerned about the rise in malnutrition cases in the country, particularly among middle-aged women and men, and inspired the audience to substitute snacks with healthy foods such as nuts, fruits, and salt-free options. 

Disseminating wisdom to girls and women, (Padma Shri) Dr. Lata Desai, Founding Trustee, SEWA Rural and President, Sharda Mahila Vikas Society focused on the women's health and how they neglect their diet for their family. She also discussed topics such as women being the primary decision-makers for what to cook for meals and sanitary issues that they encounter daily. 

Ms. Shipra Bhalla Chowdhary, Director, Government Affairs, SAP India Pvt. Ltd. outlined the 20 percent lower workplace ratio of women compared to men and the need to identify challenges in structured barriers sectors like science, FMCG, automobile. She stated that 'women are underrepresented in these focused areas' and to make changes at the ground levels as it is a great time for women to be in the corporate world. Women's careers are dependent on life stages and that needs to change, she added. 

Ms. Anjali Singh, Managing Director, Head, India Operations, Deutsche Bank, said, ''Women representation brings in gender diversity at the workplace''. A woman adds a lot to the workplace, whether it's ethos or culture, thus equal gender roles should be included in the recruiting process, government policies at various levels should be provided to women to retain them in the workforce for a longer period. There are less women in leadership roles, and this is where real time solutions and actions are required, she added. 

Ms. Shefali Mohapatra, Chief People Officer, Atria Convergence Technologies Ltd. (ACT), said, despite immense progress women live with overt or covert discrimination daily. Sometimes we don’t realize it. Most often we accept it as a way of life and live with it because the change needed is so overwhelming due to its deep roots and systemic nature. Let’s remember a child is not born with prejudices but learns it from what it sees and observes. Change is needed to build awareness and breaking of biases in all facets of our life beginning with the family system, educational institutions, and workplaces. We must question every implicit association of women with certain stereotypical roles, capability perceptions and various should dos and don’ts. We have made immense progress – both as a working woman or homemakers. But we have barely scratched the surface when it comes to true equality in spirit. Corporate India has the privilege of bringing mass scale changes by building awareness and getting rid of obstacles for women in the workplace. Not only would they benefit from diversity - after all most businesses serve diverse customers hence diverse teams would be the best way to serve them